BILL NUMBER: AB 2441 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 18, 2016
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Thurmond
FEBRUARY 19, 2016
An act to amend Section 16010.2 of the Welfare and
Institutions Code, relating to foster care. An act to
add Chapter 17 (commencing with Section 50897) to Part 2 of Division
31 of the Health and Safety Code, relating to housing.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 2441, as amended, Thurmond. Foster care.
Housing: Workforce Housing in High-Cost Areas Pilot Program.
Existing law, among several affordable housing programs,
establishes the Local Housing Trust Fund Matching Grant Program,
administered by the Department of Housing and Community Development,
for the purpose of supporting local housing trust funds dedicated to
the creation or preservation of affordable housing. Existing law
authorizes the department to make matching grants available to cities
and counties, or a city and county, and existing charitable
nonprofit organizations that have created, funded, and operated
housing trust funds.
This bill would create the Workforce Housing in High-Cost Areas
Pilot Program, pursuant to which the department would award grant
funding to eligible cities or cities and counties located in a
high-cost counties, as specified, for the predevelopment costs,
acquisition, construction, or rehabilitation of rental housing
projects or units within rental housing projects, the affordability
of which shall be restricted for a period of at least 55 years. The
bill would require the department, on or before December 31st of each
year in which funds are awarded, to provide a report to the
Legislature regarding the number of grants awarded, a description of
the projects funded, the number of units funded, and the amount of
matching funds received. The bill would require the pilot program to
operate until all appropriated funds have been awarded. The bill
would require that upon the depletion of appropriated funds, the
department shall submit a report to the Assembly and Senate
committees on appropriations evaluating the need for housing of
persons and families of low and moderate income in cities or cities
and counties that received grant funds and a recommendation on
whether the pilot program should continue.
Existing law requires the State Department of Social Services to
develop a plan for the ongoing oversight and coordination of health
care services for a child in a foster care placement in consultation
with pediatricians, other health care experts, and experts in, and
recipients of, child welfare services. Existing law requires the plan
to ensure a coordinated strategy to identify and respond to the
health care needs of foster children, consistent with federal law.
This bill would make technical, nonsubstantive changes to that
provision.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no
yes . State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Chapter 17 (commencing with Section
50897) is added to Part 2 of Division 31 of the Health and
Safety Code , to read:
CHAPTER 17. WORKFORCE HOUSING IN HIGH-COST AREAS PILOT PROGRAM
50897. It is the intent of the Legislature in enacting this
chapter to ensure that funds allocated to cities and administered by
the Department of Housing and Community Development be of maximum
benefit in meeting the needs of persons and families of low or
moderate income. It is the intent of the Legislature to support
Californians residing in high-cost areas where housing prices have
risen to levels that are unaffordable for those individuals whose
income is above 60 percent of area median income. The Legislature
intends that these funds be provided to eligible cities in high-cost
areas that are experiencing a rise in home prices and rental prices
so that they may assist individuals who are not able to live where
they work.
50897.1. As used in this chapter:
(a) "Eligible city or city and county" means a city that resides
within a county that is defined by the United States Department of
Housing and Urban Development as a "high-cost" county.
(b) "Notice of funding availability" or "NOFA" means a public
announcement that an estimated amount of funding will be awarded by a
department program according to specified criteria and schedules.
(c) "Persons and families of low or moderate income" means persons
and families whose income exceeds 60 percent of the area median
income, adjusted for family size, but no higher than 120 percent of
area median income.
(d) "Department" means the Department of Housing and Community
Development.
50897.2. (a) There is hereby established the Workforce Housing in
High-Cost Areas Pilot Program.
(b) Subject to the availability of funding, the department shall
award grant funding pursuant to the issuance of a notice of funding
availability (NOFA) to eligible cities or cities and counties that
apply for financing. The department shall determine the appropriate
amount of the grant for the purposes of accomplishing the intent of
the Legislature.
(c) An eligible city or city and county shall do all of the
following:
(1) Use the grant funds awarded to it for the predevelopment
costs, acquisition, construction, or rehabilitation of rental housing
projects or units within rental housing projects. The affordability
of all units assisted shall be restricted for a period of at least 55
years.
(2) Hold a public hearing to discuss and describe the project that
will be financed pursuant to this chapter. The meeting shall be held
pursuant to the Ralph M. Brown Act (Chapter 9 (commencing with
Section 54950) of Part 1 of Division 2 of Title 5 of the Government
Code).
(3) File periodic reports with the department regarding the use of
funds provided pursuant to this chapter.
(d) On or before December 31 of each year in which funds are
awarded pursuant to this chapter, the department shall provide a
report to the Legislature regarding the number of grants awarded, a
description of the projects funded, the number of units funded, and
the amount of matching funds received.
(e) The program shall operate until all appropriated funds have
been awarded.
(f) (1) Upon the depletion of appropriated funds and the
termination of the pilot program pursuant to subdivision (e), the
department shall submit a report to the Assembly and Senate
committees on appropriations. The report shall evaluate the need for
housing of persons and families of low and moderate income in cities
or cities and counties that received funds pursuant to this chapter.
The report shall also include, but not be limited to, a
recommendation on whether the pilot program should continue.
(2) The requirement for submitting a report imposed under this
subdivision is inoperative four years after the report becomes due.
(g) The reports to be submitted pursuant to subdivisions (d) and
(f) shall be submitted in compliance with Section 9795 of the
Government Code.
SECTION 1. Section 16010.2 of the Welfare and
Institutions Code is amended to read:
16010.2. The department, in consultation with pediatricians,
other health care experts, including public health nurses, and
experts in, and recipients of, child welfare services, including
parents, shall develop a plan for the ongoing oversight and
coordination of health care services for a child in a foster care
placement. The plan shall ensure a coordinated strategy to identify
and respond to the health care needs of foster children, including
mental health and dental needs, consistent with Section 205 of the
federal Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act
of 2008 (Public Law 110-351).